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How would one conclude that I am not a Zillow fan?
Would it be because I don't give them carte blanche pass and ignore some things they do?
My two issues with Z are clearly documented, as is my belief that they do many things that agents should do.
Actually, you are confusing lead generation sites with real estate firm sites.
Estately, Zillow, eppraisal, Realtor.com, and a host of others exist strictly to herd visitors to agents who pay to be there for exposure to the traffic for sales leads.
They have no need to be accurate, as long as they generate business.
Real estate sites, like Berkshire Hathaway, Redfin, Remax have a similar purpose, to herd people to their specific brokers and brokerages, but also to attempt to sell their own listings.
They are tied to certain standards, imposed by MLSs and other agents.
My goal is that my site offer all information I can offer with as much accuracy as I can, to viewers for free, and only requiring registration for sharing or email/SMS updates or when required to meet MLS rules.
Actually, that fits nicely with the approach Zillow has.
But, they shouldn't appraise property online, and they shouldn't promote blind ads for some agents in NC.
Schools, price histories, maps, surrounding amenities, interior photos of closed listings, etc, should be available to folks on IDX or VOW sites. If they were more readily available, agents who moan about Zillow, et al, would not have near as many issues.
Aw, shucks, I was just teasing you, Mike.
I rarely visited Zillow's website before this, mostly because I don't trust the Zestimates. As it happens, in looking at one listing, I discovered that it was treated very differently from site to site. That's why I wrote "In this case, Zillow is a buyer's friend because Zillow preserves the original list prices, shows the reduction in price and percentage. This is helpful for buyers to know, but is detrimental to sellers who have had their property listed for a long time, as is the case with Grlzrl's sellers. Clearly, the sellers' agent wants the listing to appear to be fresh and not as if the house has been on the market since last spring. There is other data on Zillow's website that the listing agent is hiding on her own website, and that's an interesting subject for another day.
My goal in visiting the various websites was simply to see how they treat listings.
I am not a fan of Zillow's Zestimates, which I find to be laughable most of the time, and useless for houses that have never hit the market before.
I rarely visited Zillow's website before this, mostly because I don't trust the Zestimates. As it happens, in looking at one listing, I discovered that it was treated very differently from site to site. That's why I wrote "In this case, Zillow is a buyer's friend because Zillow preserves the original list prices, shows the reduction in price and percentage. This is helpful for buyers to know, but is detrimental to sellers who have had their property listed for a long time, as is the case with Grlzrl's sellers. Clearly, the sellers' agent wants the listing to appear to be fresh and not as if the house has been on the market since last spring. There is other data on Zillow's website that the listing agent is hiding on her own website, and that's an interesting subject for another day.
My goal in visiting the various websites was simply to see how they treat listings.
I am not a fan of Zillow's Zestimates, which I find to be laughable most of the time, and useless for houses that have never hit the market before.
Actually, all real estate sites should favor sellers when showing listings. It is generally assumed that unless and until there is a buyers agency agreement, the firm is working on behalf of the sellers.
But...
IF a site doesn't provide full information to inquisitive prospective buyers, is the seller really being favored or served?
MLS IDX use by firms has degenerated from sharing listings to a pure play for sales leads.
You see that every time you go to a real estate firm site and get locked out form proceeding with search unless you provide personal information.
I think the answer is already within Mike’s post. Favoring the seller means attracting more prospective buyers to view the house. It also happens to benefit buyers who find more houses to consider, even if they end up crossing it off the short list.
If a listing plays up negative things and is geared only towards driving down prices (favors buyers only), some buyers will miss out on considering places that could work well for them, possibly with some minor changes made. Have you ever not bought something that appeared to not be good enough, only to find out that someone else bought it and, with very little expense, made it into something you really like?
I think the answer is already within Mike’s post. Favoring the seller means attracting more prospective buyers to view the house. It also happens to benefit buyers who find more houses to consider, even if they end up crossing it off the short list.
If a listing plays up negative things and is geared only towards driving down prices (favors buyers only), some buyers will miss out on considering places that could work well for them, possibly with some minor changes made. Have you ever not bought something that appeared to not be good enough, only to find out that someone else bought it and, with very little expense, made it into something you really like?
Yes, the answer was clear and in context.
Until a buyer engages an agent (In most states, including NC where I am), buyers need to recognize that the agent's responsibility and default role is to support the seller's best interests.
I think the answer is already within Mike’s post. Favoring the seller means attracting more prospective buyers to view the house. It also happens to benefit buyers who find more houses to consider, even if they end up crossing it off the short list.
If a listing plays up negative things and is geared only towards driving down prices (favors buyers only), some buyers will miss out on considering places that could work well for them, possibly with some minor changes made. Have you ever not bought something that appeared to not be good enough, only to find out that someone else bought it and, with very little expense, made it into something you really like?
when you're ready to buy a home, a qualified agent will be happy to represent you and personally tell you the good, bad and ugly about homes after you hire them.
When any agent/brokerage displays another agent/brokerage's listing on their website, we have agreements that we'll not only display certain information, but we'll also acknowledge the listing brokerage ON the page.
MikeJ ascribes to the belief that until you sign a buyer agency agreement, ALL agents represent the Seller. I'm not convinced on this point (and could be wrong and always willing to learn), but I can say that the sellers of my BROKERAGE, I do indeed represent them until I have a signed Buyer Agency Agreement.
Another big drop in the Zestimate. I am guessing it's because the biggest competing property just had a huge price drop. It is now down 21% from the high back in Jan 2018. This property is 25% bigger than mine, similar year built and 13% cheaper than mine now. WHEN are the people going to get a clue?
Meanwhile, in MY neighborhood, there are not as many houses on the market as I expected and they ARE selling if they are not way overpriced. There are probably 5 houses, 3 of which are way overpriced and 1 under contract. So the ones that are reasonably priced at not sitting long.
My husband and I are going to go in best and final, but I have to wait until we can sell some company stock hopefully in a few weeks. It was supposed to be May 1 but we are in a blackout until a deal they are working on closes. He threw me a curve ball with this blackout, the longest we have ever had (about 6 months) and didn't tell me ahead of time. It may end up being the best thing that's ever happened to us though, because the stock has increased quite a bit during this period.
(Blackouts are when you have inside info and can't trade the stock).
Another big drop in the Zestimate. I am guessing it's because the biggest competing property just had a huge price drop. It is now down 21% from the high back in Jan 2018. This property is 25% bigger than mine, similar year built and 13% cheaper than mine now. WHEN are the people going to get a clue?
Meanwhile, in MY neighborhood, there are not as many houses on the market as I expected and they ARE selling if they are not way overpriced. There are probably 5 houses, 3 of which are way overpriced and 1 under contract. So the ones that are reasonably priced at not sitting long.
My husband and I are going to go in best and final, but I have to wait until we can sell some company stock hopefully in a few weeks. It was supposed to be May 1 but we are in a blackout until a deal they are working on closes. He threw me a curve ball with this blackout, the longest we have ever had (about 6 months) and didn't tell me ahead of time. It may end up being the best thing that's ever happened to us though, because the stock has increased quite a bit during this period.
(Blackouts are when you have inside info and can't trade the stock).
This price reduction of a comp is very good for you. However, if your highest and best offer does not get accepted by the owners of your dream house, what about this house that dropped so much in price? Have you seen it in person? Could it also be a dream house?
Last edited by SFBayBoomer; 04-22-2019 at 09:58 PM..
This price reduction of a comp is very good for you. However, if your highest and best offer does not get accepted by the owners of your dream house, what about this house that dropped so much in price? Have you seen it in person? Could it also be a dream house?
I thought about going to see it but the pictures don't do much for me. It is really dated looking and would require a lot of $$ to update. My house, although it was built around the same time, was done in a way that wouldn't require nearly as much $$ to make it look less dated. I would be able to move into it right away.
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